Today, 3pm

Stage 3: Yaoundé - Yaoundé (101.8km)

TEAM Rwanda riders are optimistic to put up a great show for a first stage win when the ongoing inaugural UCI Under-23 Tour de l’Espoir heads into stage 3 on Saturday in Cameroon.

Led by La Tropicalle Amissa Bongo 2018 winner Joseph Areruya, who is fourth in General Classification and Jean Paul Rene Ukiniwabo, who finished second in stage 2 on Thursday, Starling Magnell’s men will go into today’s stage seeking to push for better positions.

Going into today’s race, which is a 6-lap race across Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, Team Rwanda stands in the third spot, 4 minutes and 28 seconds behind Morocco in second place.

Eritrea whose riders Natnael Mebrahtom and Daniel Habtemchael won stage 1 and 2 respectively, top the team general classification.

The 4-stage Tour de l’Espoir, which is one of the six U23 UCI calendar events on global scale, started on January 31 and will conclude on Sunday.

The highly-rated race started with 83 riders, but 10 dropped out in stage one on Wednesday while 20 more failed to complete the second stage on Thursday, leaving the competition with 53 cyclists.

After Tour de l’Espoir, a new race on the UCI Africa Tour calendar, attention will shift to the UCI African Continental Road Championship slated for February 13-18 in Rwanda.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw